Kukla's Korner Hockey

I was able to join Alex Ovechkin’s conference call with the Detroit media a few minutes ago. Ovechkin will be playing at Joe Louis Arena for the first time tomorrow night against the league-leading Red Wings, and the local reporters had lots of questions for him.

Q: Can the Caps still make the playoffs?
A: “Last week was very important for us. We play five games and we win four and lose one. We still have a chance. We play better and better.”

Q: How much are you looking forward to playing in Detroit?
A: “Detroit is one of the best teams in the league. It’s a great place to play hockey and I’ve never been here. So I’m really excited. They have great players so it will be big challenge for my team.”

As Dupuis and others can attest, a backyard rink can provide countless hours of fresh-air fun, and building a basic ice sheet is relatively easy and inexpensive.

It requires a few basic materials costing between $300 and $400: wooden planks for boards; wooden or metal stakes to hold the boards in place; a heavy-duty plastic sheet to serve as a liner; and a hose to flood the rink ... and don’t forget the snow shovel.

“The first thing is to put up the boards,” said Dupuis, who uses 10 large planks to construct a rink 25 to 30 feet wide and 60 feet long. Each pine plank is two inches thick, 12 inches high and 10 or 12 feet long.

“I stand them up and use metal brackets to attach them all together and stake them into the ground,” he explained.

The team learned on Sunday that centre Mike Fisher, who suffered an oblique muscle injury Saturday against the Atlanta Thrashers, is out for their two-game road swing through Boston and Atlanta this week.

Fisher, who was on a hot streak going into Saturday with three goals and five points in four games, joins a list of hurting regulars that includes winger Patrick Eaves (separated shoulder) and defenceman Anton Volchenkov (broken finger).

“It’s a substantial loss,” said Senators head coach John Paddock on Sunday.

After the Hurricanes won the shootout for a 6-5 win Saturday after 65 minutes of rough-and-tumble hockey, Carolina forward Chad LaRose stood in the hallway between the two dressing rooms looking for Flyers forward Scottie Upshall.

LaRose emerged from the Carolina dressing room furious with Upshall for “dirty” and “personal” things he said on the ice.

“I even put someone else’s shoes on so I can kick him in the face,” LaRose said.

Hurricanes defenseman Niclas Wallin and video coach Chris Huffine retrieved LaRose from the hallway and LaRose declined to comment afterward. He was escorted past the Flyers dressing room to the Carolina bus by another team staffer.

Let’s be clear on this: With three local squads on basic cable, and with Versus and NBC also showing games, there is no shortage of hockey action on your TV.

So only passionate fans of a team outside the area or avid fans of the entire league need consider forking over $169 for the season (more than what MLB charges for its online, out-of-market service).

For people in those categories, there are benefits over the comparably priced TV version of Center Ice. They include portability (if you have a good laptop), the ability to see four games at once, real-time stats and archived games.

Along the way the NHL has opened up to the best international players, joined the Winter Olympics (at least until it’s Russia’s turn to play host), and seen technology change the equipment players wear and the sweaters they put over their gear.

Have all the changes been for the better? Certainly not. Then again, nostalgia, by its nature, can be a deceitful bit of business and not to be trusted.

Here are 10 reasons why the hockey fan of today longs for yesterday:

1. We knew their faces:

No helmets, no face shields, a player could be identified without checking his number.

The Ducks are counting on the puck-moving ability of Niedermayer, Pronger, Schneider and Beauchemin, as well as the addition of Weight and Ryan, to boost a group of forwards that has been lacking in offensive balance all season.

Weight, expected to play against the Sharks despite not having arrived from St. Louis in time for Saturday’s practice, is a premier playmaker who had seen diminished ice time this season under Blues coach Andy Murray. The Ducks are hopeful Weight will click with winger Todd Bertuzzi, or perhaps Chris Kunitz, if Carlyle should opt to play Bertuzzi on the top line with center Ryan Getzlaf and right wing Corey Perry.

‘‘We played so flat, there was no energy or work ethic whatsoever,’’ Jokinen said moments after the players finished a postgame meeting. ``When the game was 4-2, I think some of our guys stopped playing. That shouldn’t happen in this league. That’s a first-place team, but it’s not a lot to ask to work your back off every single shift. Play hard. I didn’t see that tonight, and that’s the scary part.’‘

Said Vokoun: ``If you don’t want to play in games like this, you’re in the wrong business. . . . If [players quit], we have a big problem here.’‘